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& EDITORIALS
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publish, and conceal not. - Jeremiah 50:2
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EMAMI
Continued from Front
and commissioner John Am
brose, who attended by phone,
said Emami should have
brought any problems he had
with Hedges into closed session
without the public knowing.
“This is why commissioner
comments are ridiculous,” said
Tapley. “It should be done in
executive session. That’s enough
commissioner comments.”
But Emami said he’s tried to
address his concerns privately
and gotten nowhere. He began
his 5-minute prepared speech
citing Hedges’ proposal last
month to give all county
employees a 5-percent pay in
crease. Emami said Hedges said
the raises were needed because
the county is having trouble re
taining employees. But Emami
noted it was highly-paid
employees like Hedges who
would see the biggest increases,
including a $6,000 pay raise for
the county manager. Emami
said Hedges used a $12 per
hour position as an example,
and said commissioners were
told it would have taken several
more dollars per hour to fill.
But then Emami noted the 5
percent raise would only make
that position $12.60 an hour.
“So there we were,” said
Emami, “being asked to give
a 5% percent raise across the
board when Mr. Hedges knew
this would not alleviate the
problem.”
Emami said Hedges also
repeated his trick of talking to
other top-level county em
ployees about his proposed
raises. This, said Emami, left
commissioners in a precari
ous position drawing the ire
of county employees if they
opposed it. Emami said he
got an email from one county
employee who said they were
heart-broken by his opposition
to the raises.
“What an insult!” the em
ployee told Emami. “Please give
me a reason not to resign!’
Emami said he wants to help
county employees but also has a
responsibility to look out for the
fiscal future of the county. And
he said Hedges uses such ploys
to pressure commissioners to
do what he wants.
“This last theatrical event
masterfully orchestrated by our
county manager was the last
straw!’ said Emami. “It was a
very manipulative and coercive
way of handling county busi
ness, and handling us as board
members.”
Emami said Hedges’ actions
trying to buffalo commis
sioners into the raise was very
similar to when they gave the
biggest across the board raise
in county history when Hedges
was first hired four years ago.
Commissioners had at first
turned down a new UGA
payscale. So Hedges sent an
email to be circulated among all
county employees telling them
he’s confident the pay scale
would be brought back up,
calling it “accurate, thorough,
complete, comprehensive and
complicated.”
Emami said he’s been saying
repeatedly the county needs to
reel in spending, but Hedges
doesn’t seem to listen. Emami
said he’s urged Hedges to find
the “fat, redundancy and waste”
in the county budget but that
Hedges will not.
“Year after year, meeting
after meeting, he still refuses
to do this in favor of spending
more, expanding department
budgets, buying 12 fire trucks at
a time, and on and on.”
Emami said Hedges has
increased the county general
budget 13.8 percent in just four
years, and its total budget
(including sales tax and debt)
24 percent in just four years
since he took over. Emami said
in the same time the county’s
population is only up 2 percent
a year. He added that Jones
County’s general budget is only
up 7 percent in that time, and
only 2.6 percent overall.
“Does anyone else see a prob
lem here?” asked Emami.
Emami recalled that he and
Commissioner Eddie Rowland
resisted Hedges’ call for a 3-mill
property tax hike last year. In
response, Hedges told com
missioners that the county’s IT
man Audra Howard resigned
in protest because commis
sioners were “micromanaging”.
Only later, said Emami, did
they learn that Howard was
leveraging Hedges for a raise.
Emami said three times he’s
felt misled, manipulated or
coerced by Hedges by what he
deems to be unethical tactics.
Emami said he thinks Hedges
should have been disciplined
for those but was prevented
from adding that to Hedges’
personnel file. Emami said
Hedges should also have
been disciplined for failing to
advertise properly the Juliette
property sold last summer.
“We have fired county
employees over mistakes which
were much less consequential
and costly!’ said Emami.
Emami said he’s tried to deal
with Hedges discreetly but has
gotten nowhere.
“Gentleman,” said Emami.
“I’ve had enough.”
Emami said he thinks Hedges
is heading the county down a
path that will lead to financial
distress if they don’t unite in
holding him accountable.
While Tapley disliked Ema-
mi’s talk, citizens attending the
meeting were more supportive.
“I applaud you for saying
those things,” said Alan Gibbs.
“Transparency goes well with
the public. Coming from the
board, that’s good for us.”
Former commissioner Larry
Evans also applauded Emami.
And Forsyth logger Nipper
Bunn rose to echo his support
for Emami.
“I appreciate George’s com
ments,” said Bunn. “1 wish he
hadn’t been thrown under the
bus by the chairman. I have
noticed since Hedges was hired,
spending has picked up quite
a bit I’d like to see it reined in.
If we have a $7 million surplus,
maybe taxpayers would like to
get some of that back.”
is published every week by The Monroe County Reporter Inc.
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Official Organ of Monroe
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Publication No. USPS 997-840
DRAWING ON THE NEWS by AF Branco
REECE’S PIECES by Steve Reece
The forgotten art of hitchhiking
E nter a southbound on-
ramp of 1-75 and you might
see a person holding up a
cardboard sign, hitch-hiking
their way to a better life. It’s rare
that someone will stop and give this
person a ride other than a deputy
or the state patrol. These are scary
times and giving a stranger a ride is
not advisable. Unless you are a Lyft
or Uber driver that is. The commer
cialized version of hitchhiking.
These drivers are not taxi or
limo drivers, who are required to
carry a Class B Carrier Certificate.
They’re just regular people with a
valid driver’s license who passed
a background check and own a
smartphone. No special training
required. We’re taught it’s danger
ous to catch rides with strangers,
background checks or not, but we
think nothing of getting into their
cars because other people give them
good reviews.
Hitchhiking was once a common
mode of transportation. During
the Great Depression, hordes of
out-of-work people were search
ing for opportunity and those with
automobiles often stopped to help
those who were looking for employ
ment. After World War II many
servicemen traveled from bases to
visit their families using the cheapest
means possible: their thumbs.
And then when the 60s arrived,
hippies across the nation were
thumbing their way to rock festivals
and San Francisco spreading peace
and love across our nation. This
hippy fantasy of cooperation faded
in popularity during the 80s when
people became more interested in
themselves. The economy was good,
and suddenly everyone had trans
portation. Those without vehicles
were the homeless who stood in the
way, and no one had the time to stop
and give them a lift.
Hitchhiking is legal in the United
States except for five states provided
that the hitchhiker is not on the road
itself or hindering traffic. Hitchhik
ers can use on-ramps, sidewalks, and
shoulders but not interstates. A 1974
California study found that hitch
hikers or drivers were not dispro
portionately likely to become crime
victims, but some local governments
have outlawed hitchhiking in the
interest of public safety.
Although hitchhiking originated
in the United States, the practice is
worldwide. In Cuba, it is mandatory
for drivers of government vehicles
to pick up hitchhikers if space is
available. People wait in designated
areas waiting to be picked up on a
first-come, first-served basis. On
May 4, the price for a gallon of gas in
Havana was $3.03 which seems like
a deal to us but to the average Cuban
citizen who makes only $43.66 a
month, it’s astronomical.
When I was just 14,1 was ready
to take on the world and did a little
hitchhiking myself. My dad had
been recently assigned to Pope Air
Force Base in North Carolina and
we lived in base housing on Ft.
Bragg. Early one cold morning while
everyone was sleeping, I put on a
sweater, grabbed my guitar, slipped
out the backdoor and headed for the
West Coast ready for stardom.
I soon discovered what it is to
walk for miles stumbling in roadside
gravel with semi-trucks sending
blasts of cold wind down my neck. I
experienced the disappointment of
running to a stopped car and having
them drive off just as
I caught up to them. I
know the fear of having
a carload of yelling red
necks chasing me into a
ditch.
My first night on the
road was very cold, too
cold for a small boy in
a sweater, and in the
darkness, I noticed an
auto salvage yard across
the road. It was late
and there was no fence,
so I found an old, wrecked pickup
and crawled in for sleep. Lying on
the seat was an old torn coat that fit
me perfectly. Not only was I cold,
but I was also starving and when I
stuck my hands in the pockets of
the coat, I found a candy bar. The
Lord was watching over me that
night. Looking back, the thing that’s
most surprising is that even though
I was only 14 years old and looked
much younger, I was never stopped
nor questioned. No one asked who
or where my parents were. No one
cared I wasn’t in school.
It took me a little over two weeks
by the time I hitched to western
Oklahoma, and I thought it would
be cool if I stopped in to visit my
best friend, Kirk, and show off a few
new chords. But Kirk’s parents were
aware that I had run away and were
waiting for me. Soon I was in the
Jackson County, Okla. Jail behind
bars as a runaway. It was the big
man’s jail, as there were no juvenile
facilities in that area at that time.
My guitar and I were incarcerated
for two weeks while my old man
requested time off from his company
commander and drove 1,384 miles
to bail me out and take me home. I
know this to be the exact distance
because I received a good butt
whooping for every mile marker we
passed along the way.
Steve Reece is a writer for the Report
er and a known crime fighter. Email
him atstevereece@gmail.com.
CAROLYN S CORNER by Carolyn Martel
Take a pass on this Sunday Assembly
I was listening to a
Christian radio sta
tion and I heard the
radio host say
something that
was shocking.
He said that at a
time when public
trust in religious
institutions is
wavering, the
Sunday Assembly
movement is
growing. At
first I thought
he was saying
something
positive, but unfortunately
he was referring to the
rapid growth of “godless”
congregations in America.
Stand-up comedians
Sanderson Jones and
Pippa Evans started the
first Sunday As
sembly in London
in January 2013.
They both wanted
to do something
like church, but
without “God.”
The first event,
attended by
over 300
people,
was held
in a vacant
church
building that is now
referred to as a “deconse
crated” church. Since the
first meeting, Sunday As
sembly congregations are
springing up all over the
U.S., Europe and Australia.
JONES SAYS, “The
Sunday Assembly is a
godless congregation that
celebrates life. Our motto
is: live better, help often,
wonder more. Our mis
sion: help everyone find
and fulfill their full poten
tial. Our vision: a godless
congregation in every
town, city and village that
wants one.” The Sunday
Assembly expresses the
sentiment that they are a
values (rather than a faith)
based congregation.
SO WHAT is
a typical service
like in a Sunday Assembly?
There’s no worship or ref
erence to a deity. There are
sermons, but the focus is
on the value and goodness
of human beings, meeting
human needs, problem
solving solutions and the
celebration of life. Congre
gations sing along as a live
band performs songs by
Stevie Wonder, the Beatles,
Queen and a host of other
rock legends.
JONES SAID, “Life is a
gift and Sunday Assembly
meetings are the best thing
for the soul.” At least he
has one thing right. Life
See GODLESS . Page 5A